


All I Can Give You

by prinsessa_mouse



Category: Metalocalypse (Cartoon)
Genre: Chocolate, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Presents, Cuddling & Snuggling, Fluff, Hot Chocolate, I don't know how to tag this one anymore, Idiots in Love, M/M, Nathan the sweetheart, Skwisgaar the drama queen, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, recording music, twelve days of Dethmas
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:08:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28083696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prinsessa_mouse/pseuds/prinsessa_mouse
Summary: Nathan gets the bright idea to cover a song as a gift to Pickles for Christmas. He recruits the help of Skwisgaar to make it come together on time.
Relationships: Nathan Explosion/Pickles the Drummer, Skwisgaar Skwigelf/Toki Wartooth
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	All I Can Give You

“Nathans, I tolds you I can’ts play pianos,” Skwisgaar stated bluntly.

The bigger man followed the thin blonde around the kitchen while he searched all the cabinets for chocolate. When he got this way, no one could convince him to listen until he got the candy. Nathan knew where Charles hid the chocolate from Toki, he opened the fridge and pulled open the vegetable crisper. In a hollow bottom, there were various boxes of chocolate. He knew Skwisgaar wanted the Himalayan pink salt caramels. He pulled the small box out, taking great care to replace everything the way he found it and slammed the fridge door. “Want these?” he asked holding up the purple box.

“Gives me thems please,” the blonde said. He hurried over to Nathan with a bit of excitement in his step. He needed chocolate, his frayed nerves required a sugar fix. The sweet mixture of caramel and salt left him feeling almost post-orgasm bliss. What could he say? Writing this new record caused him a lot of stress.

“Nah,” Nathan said holding box out of Skwisgaar’s grasp. He enjoyed playing keep away with the Swede, he never got blessed with little sibling. Tormenting the blonde who was a year younger than him always entertained him for a bit. “I know you can play piano. Pickles taught you,” he shot back.

Skwisgaar groaned and stomped his foot angrily. “NEJ! GIVES TO ME THE CHOKOLATES!” he screamed.

Murderface poked his head into the kitchen only to walk away quickly. It was Nathan’s funeral. When Skwisgaar wanted chocolate, he fought dirty and yelled the meanest things. His low blood sugar and coping mechanism of chocolate made him a terrifying entity to challenge. Writing a new album brought out the worst side of the Swede, he didn’t sleep a lot, between stress smoking and eating chocolate eventually he got guitar fatigue. He went back to his arcade games, better safe than sorry being caught in the crosshairs of the blonde wanting his chocolate.

“Piano and I give them to you.”

“I kicks your fat fuckings ass and deletes all your vocal tracks!”

Nathan burst out laughing, “Ha, you’re not going to kick my ass.”

“Rips the hair offs your stupids head,” Skwisgaar snapped back. He just wanted the chocolates so he could go lay in his bathtub while he relaxed. Nathan’s insistence over playing the piano pissed him off.

“Skwisgaar, I want to record a song as a Christmas gift for Pickles. Help me and I’ll buy you every type of chocolate you want.”

The blonde crossed his arms over his chest. His resting bitch face morphing into a sinister look.

“No tricks,” Nathan said holding out the box as a truce. He knew Skwisgaar would stomp into the studio and delete his vocal tracks if he didn’t give him the candy. He chose to fight with the wrong band member. He pushed Skwisgaar a few times which resulted in malicious revenge like cutting the sleeves off his t-shirts or bawling which usually prompted Pickles to scream at Nathan.

“Fines. I lays in my bathstub first and relaxes before you makes me mentals,” Skwisgaar said taking the box from Nathan. He protectively hugged them to his chest like a child with their favorite toy.

Nathan sighed, “I’ll send you the song.”

“Whats you mean?”

“It’s a cover. I heard it on this Punk Christmas album Pickles has,” the big guy said. He knew Pickles liked the song, he played it on the piano all the time. He thought if he covered the song, that might be the best gift he could give him. They already got engaged, what do you get a guy who says he has everything he wants.

Skwisgaar groaned loudly and stomped out of the kitchen with his prize.

“Hm, that went well,” Nathan mused.

It went well until Pickles asked why Skwisgaar suddenly took interest in his grand piano.

The blonde sat in the smaller recording studio for hours listening to the song on repeat, dissecting the chord structure until he felt confident enough to start playing. He pulled his headphones from his ears and rubbed his eyes, he really needed sleep. He got his notebook set up on the music rack and tucked his favorite purple pencil into the messy blonde knot atop his head. He’d noodle around a bit to see if his ears were reliable enough to lead him in the right direction. He got a bit anxious when Pickles walked through the studio, eyeing him suspiciously. Twenty minutes later, Nathan showed up to reassure him that he fed the redhead a believable story.

He stayed locked in the sound booth for three more hours writing the rhythms, he couldn’t read music, so he wrote down his shorthand version of notation. The note name with the placement number on the keyboard. He played through it clumsily a few times then texted Nathan to meet him in the afternoon. He’d practice in the morning but right now he almost fell asleep at the piano.

The next morning, Skwisgaar memorized the song and could sing it himself. He no longer needed to reference the recording. He heard Jason Lancaster’s voice in the darkest recesses of his mind. He’d have it stuck in his head until he went to Valhalla. He didn’t hate the song, he ranted to Toki about it last night because he worried about playing the piano. That was Pickles’ thing, back in the Snakes N Barrels days, he pulled at people’s heartstrings with the piano ballads before screaming and rocking the house down.

Around mid morning, a note and flower were sent his way while he practiced. He beamed over the encouragements and kept working. Tucked into the back of his notebook was the list of all the types of chocolate he required as compensation.

Nathan showed up early. He heard from Toki that Skwisgaar acted like a headcase the night before and rambled about ruining this recording because he couldn’t play piano that well. The lead singer asked Jean Pierre to make a special cup of hot chocolate with whipped cream and sprinkles to present the blonde for all his hard work. He found Skwisgaar in the sound booth playing through the song. He took a seat at the mixer and flipped on the mic. He didn’t expect to hear his friend singing along as he played. He assumed he was having one of his self loathing sessions where he called himself a failure and bullied himself into being better.

Giving the blonde a task meant his perfectionist gene couldn’t rest until he accomplished his goals. Nathan really appreciated it, he left it a bit last minute. Skwisgaar rose to the challenge and put the piano part together in a few hours.

“Skwisgaar, lets rehearse okay?” Nathan said over the mic.

Skwisgaar nodded, he stopped playing and waited. He planned to rehearse, record his track twice, record Nathan’s using his as the backing track, and he asked Toki to come record a video of it so there would be a bit more for Pickles’ gift aside from just an MP3.

“Brought you some hot chocolate,” Nathan said. He walked into the sound booth and placed the mug down on the piano. He set about adjusting his microphone, placing his stool, and finding his copy of the lyrics.

“Tack,” Skwisgaar smiled. He took a sip while he waited for the big guy to get ready. He ripped open the note with a wax seal and grinned manically at the silliness of the limerick, in the corner a few doodles of cats accompanied it.

Nathan cleared his throat, “So ah I was thinking of singing like a regular jackoff.”

“Nathans, you can’ts scream this songs. It has to bes nice. You ams telling Pickle you loves him so much nothing buts this song can do,” Skwisgaar rambled enthusiastically. He started falling in love with the song the more he listened to it. He understood why Pickles loved it so much. “There ams parts of the lyrics that are very importants like poetry. Which lines means most to yous and Pickle?”

The big guy looked over the lyrics. There were a few important lines, ones that deserved the emotional emphasis. “You have to know that I can’t let you down, it’s you and me versus the rest of this town,” he mumbled.

“So, whats about the rests? Whens the light go out I’ll stills be around to puts a bow on some sound? That ams very fittings for you boths. Thinks tour, making music withs him, and when yous watch him tourings with Snake N Barrel.”

Nathan nodded. The line that stuck out most was the one Pickles seemed to choke up on when he sang it. He experienced tears of joy when he delivered that line, he poured so much emotion into his playing after that point. “The most important line is cause baby you’ve been the glue and the nails and the screws that managed to keep me in place,” he replied.

“Let starts, I want to gets recording.”

They rehearsed for two hours. Nathan understood the methodical way Skwisgaar worked, the guy kept stopping to remind him to put emotion into the song. He asked Nathan to describe what he thought about while he sang, forced him to visualize Pickles. They didn’t stop till the song became as natural as breathing or talking about someone you loved.

Nathan slumped in the chair in front of the mixer, recording a cover song seemed harder than recording a song he wrote. Skwisgaar wasted no time, he told him to record his piano tracks. He flew through three recordings with ease. He sat back in the chair next to Nathan as they chose which track they would use so the big guy could record vocals. He unfortunately didn’t get out of the booth for an hour. Skwisgaar’s picky nature forced him keep singing. He nearly tore off the blonde’s face for making him record so many tracks, he grumbled when he sat down then patted his friend on the shoulder when he heard the track. It was perfect.

“Do you know how to put the tracks together in post?” Nathan asked. He never thought about that, Pickles took great interest in sound engineering. Who else could put the song together on such short notice? Would Skwisgaar play it live if this didn’t work out?

“Pfft,” Skwisgaar laughed. “Of course. I record myselves all the times. I hads idea that might makes this best gift ever.”

Nathan raised a dark eyebrow curiously, “What were you thinking?”

“We records video of us playings it. Toki ams really good at editings video. He can do anythings you wants to makes it all mooshies.”

“You want to involve Toki?”

Skwisgaar pulled his phone from his sweater pocket and searched through his photo album. He clicked on a particular video that was made for their anniversary. The little bouncing kitty stickers on the intro screen morphed into a collection of videos and photos with upbeat bubblegum pop music. “Sees, he makes me these alls the time. I thinks it woulds be nice with the track. Pickle cans watch it overs again. Can adds photos or videos too. Toki ams really good at this,” Skwisgaar gloated. He really loved his collection of videos. He watched them a lot especially when he got stressed out and needed space.

“Okay get his ass down here.”

Toki acted serious while he filmed the videos from various angles. When they were done filming, he sat down on the couch next to Skwisgaar as they discussed the video. Their vision came together with using the completed track, snippets of the video clips from the sound booth, and whatever photos and videos Nathan provided them.

Nathan left them to it. The Scandinavians seemed content working on this project as they snuggled on the couch in the studio. Around midnight they texted him to declare they were done and to ask his approval.

He owed Skwisgaar a lot of chocolate. Toki asked for days off for his boyfriend so they could spend time together instead of the Swede getting rundown and depressed.

He didn’t see them until Christmas Eve supper. They were hiding away to enjoy so much needed quality time before everyone’s families arrived the next morning. He made sure they were paid back in their requests. They snuck off after the second movie of forced ‘Dethklok family’ fun night.

Nathan thought he could wait. Christmas was the next morning and yet he couldn’t seem to get the recording off his mind. He watched the video many times, Skwisgaar’s work on the track and Toki’s video really made this the perfect gift.

Pickles lounged next to him in bed with a copy of Misery. He needed to get up in a few hours to get the Santa stockings stuffed even if Toki no longer believed in Santa Claus, he loved that tradition. Nathan kept huffing about, he fussed about opening and closing the copy of Medieval Punishment. “What’s goin’ on Nate?” the redhead finally asked. He continued to read to the bottom of the page before he dog eared the page.

“I’m thinking,” he grumbled.

“About?”

Nathan sighed, “Can I give you your present early?”

“I mean its technically Christmas,” Pickles said. When they got back to their bedroom it was almost midnight. He used to tell Toki Christmas didn’t start until the next morning. Everyone grew up, bandmates were engaged or in serious relationships now. They enjoyed being together not playing up Christmas for Toki’s sake.

The big guy slammed his book shut, he set it on the bedside table and grabbed his Dethphone. He had it queued up ready, he planned to play it for Pickles as soon as he could. He got video player open with the photo of him and Pickles in their Christmas sweaters on the play screen. “I ah made you this,” he said handing Pickles his phone.

Pickles tossed his book off the side of the bed and took the phone. He chucked when he saw the photo. “Yeh made me a video?” he asked curiously. He snuggled into Nathan’s side and hit the play button.

The familiar song brought a smile to his face. He watched the camera pan over the piano player then move to the vocalist. His heart crept up into his throat, Nathan’s voice sang lyrically as Skwisgaar accompanied him. A photo of them back at a Snakes N Barrels show popped up along with others from their years of living together in their twenties. The clip returned when Nathan seemed to stare into the camera as he sung certain lines to him, the video morphed into the early years of Dethklok, all the dates and friender benders, them with their friends. Videos were sprinkled in to remind him that they teased each other all the time, they forgot that as they posed for a selfie they were actually making a video, a lot of the videos were kisses and little pranks. A few moments where Pickles mothered the others and acted silly when he got hyper.

Nathan watched Pickles who snuggled into him staring at the phone in awe.

As the video neared its end the video returned to Nathan and Skwisgaar’s performance. The singer put his whole heart into the lyrics, he emphasized the parts that meant the most while the Swede poured himself into the piano part. The video ended with a recent photo they took together a few weeks ago while they hugged each other. The credits rolled and it returned to the play screen.

“I thought about writing a song,” Nathan mumbled.

Pickles laid the phone next to himself and wrapped his arms around his boyfriend’s thick frame. “I love it, Nate,” he said. He really did, the song, his friends helping make the video, a timeline of his relationship with his fiancé. It was the best Christmas gift he ever received.

“I didn’t know what to get you.”

“Yeh gave me the perfect gift. How’d yeh get Skwisgaar to cooperate?”

Nathan grumbled, “Two-thousand-dollar chocolate order. Probably laying in his bathtub right now having Toki feed him candy.”

“Yeh manipulated him,” Pickles chuckled. He imagined it started with the withholding of chocolate and escalated into a bitter fight until Skwisgaar agreed.

“No,” Nathan blurted. “I also granted Toki’s wish to give Skwisgaar time off because he’s being a diva.”

The redhead rested his head on his partner’s chest. He listened to that song on repeat for days. The fact that Nathan recorded himself singing it meant the world to him. “I love yeh so much. Recordin’ that song means everythin’ to me. Probably gonna watch that video a lot too,” Pickles gushed.

“I love you too. Merry Christmas,” Nathan said pressing a kiss to Pickles dreads.

“Merry Christmas, Nate.”

_Cause baby that's all I can give is this Christmas song to you, I just hope that you’ll sing it. Wherever your heart skips a beat while you’re thinking of me._

**Author's Note:**

> Another day early but two for one Dethmas special on Christmas Song fics!  
> This is one I've played the piano part for many times. Another favorite xmas song of mine that came off the Punk Goes Christmas album. You get undertones of Skwisgaar's relationship with Toki, the dynamic of working on music, and diva attitudes over chocolate!! Also, I love the idea of Pickles being the type who would enjoy Punk Goes Christmas/Pop!  
> Check out the song - All I Can Give You by Jason Lancaster.  
> Happy reading <3


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